This classic text explores the lives and ideas of the social thinkers who have shaped and continue to forge traditions in sociology. Focusing on the great names in the field, it weaves biographical and conceptual details into a tapestry of the history of social thought of the 19th and 20th centuries. Written in a narrative style that is accessible and exciting, this text serves as an excellent supplement for courses in social and sociological theory, the history of social thought, the history of sociology, and introduction to sociology.
INTRODUCTION Society and Illusion PART ONE: THE VICISSITUDES OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY RATIONALISM Chapter 1. The Prophets of Paris: Saint-Simon and Comte Chapter 2. Sociology in the Underground: Karl Marx Chapter 3. The Last Gentleman: Alexis de Tocqueville Chapter 4. Nietzsches Madness Chapter 5. Do-Gooders, Evolutionists and Racists PART TWO: THE GREAT BREAKTHROUGH Chapter 6: Dreyfus Empire: Emile Durkheim Chapter 7: Max Weber: The Disenchantment of the World Chapter 8: Sigmund Freud: Conquistador of the Irrational Chapter 9: The Discovery of the Invisible World: Simmel, Cooley and Mead PART THREE: THE VICISSITUDES OF TWENTIETH-CENTURY SOPHISTICATION Chapter 10. The Discovery of the Ordinary World: Thomas, Park, and the Chicago School Chapter 11. The Emergence of African-American Sociology: DuBois, Frazier, Drake and Cayton Chapter 12. The Construction of the Social System: Pareto and Parsons Chapter 13. Hitlers Shadow: Mannheim and Mills Chapter 14. Erving Goffman and the Theatre of Social Encounters Chapter 15. Cultural Capital, Revolution, the World-system, and Globalization: the Theories of Pierre Bourdieu, Theda Skocpol, and Immanuel Wallerstein Bibliographical Suggestions Index